The present invention concerns a device for closing a structure such as, for example, a munitions compartment of a rocket. This device can be ejected upon command, so that the structure is opened at the desired moment.
Current military strategy used to neutralize vital enemy installations such as, for example, landing areas, entails two stages:
in the first stage, a rocket with munitions is either sent above the zone to be neutralized by means of a launching tube or is jettisoned from an aircraft;
in the second stage, the munitions are ejected on command.
Methods for releasing munitions are widely known and shall not be described below. The invention relates to the closing of the compartments by means of devices that can be released upon command.
Such devices exist. A known device consists of a hatch, embrittled in certain places and fixed to the compartment at other places. An outward thrust from the compartment is given at the embrittled portions which break and then go beyond the fuselage of the rocket. The aerodynamic drag coefficient (hereinafter marked Cx) of this rocket is then modified and this difference in Cx causes the hatch to be partially torn away. Since the hatch is only partially torn away, the opening of the compartment is not adequately controlled and there is the risk that pieces of the hatch may hamper the passage of the munitions.